Hi I have a chihuaha that hates having her toenails trimmed and bites me when I try to trim them. I have tried to be patient and loving and I've also tried punishing her when she bites me, but neither one has been successful. She still gets really upset and screams bloody murder when I know that I am not hurting her. There has to be an easier way for both of us to get this done.
2006-11-30 07:07:26 · 19 answers · asked by jazzygirl16 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
My dog hates it too. Put a muzzle on it and try to cover her face with a blanket so she can't see what is going on. It helps with my dog.
2006-11-30 07:11:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some dogs (Chi's are very well-known for this) just hate having their toenails cut. If she bites hard, you can try buying a soft nylon muzzle to protect yourself while you're clipping. You can also starting from scratch, and teaching her to not fear it:
1. Rub her feet while you're snuggling, playing with her, etc. Start off with a quick rub, and move up to playing with each toe, turning the foot over gently, etc.
2. Let her smell the clippers, and give her a treat.
3. With the clippers in view, but not in your hand, hold her and rub her feet the same way you were doing before. Give her another treat if she behaves, reprimand her if she doesn't.
4. Pick up the clippers, and rub her foot with the same hand, but without actually clipping a nail. Again, praise if she's good, discipline if she's bad.
5. Clip 1 nail. Praise or discipline. IF she did good, let her go and start over another day. Next time, do 2 nails. The next day, 3. And so on. If she misbehaves, start over with the rubbing without letting her go, and keep trying until you can get through 1 nail without her being bad. Then praise her and let her go.
If at any point she becomes too stressed out, you'll have to decide if it's better to just push through it or stop for the day. Another thing you can consider is having a vet or groomer clip the nails for you- she'll probably still be stressed, but a) dogs behave better when it's someone other than Mom, and b) at least she won't associate YOU with the negative activity of nail clipping.
Good luck!
2006-11-30 07:14:50 · answer #2 · answered by Dreamer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sometimes on dogs like this you need two people to do the job. One to hold her and her head away from where you are cutting. She has had a bad experience with this ordeal and will do anything to avoid it. She probably had a nail cut too short and cut into the quick.
A dog groomer can do the job real quick. I have groomed pets for 15 years and these little guys are hard to do but with the right restraint and procedure it is easy.
She probably won't let you do it cause you have hurt her in the past. Take her to a groomer that you hear raves about. One that has a gentle touch and an understanding of how far back the nail should be cut.
2006-11-30 07:17:19 · answer #3 · answered by bluebonnetgranny 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My dog also hates his toenails cut. Its a pitbull so no wrapping in the blanket would do. Muzzle is unnecessary and useless for my dog just pulls hard on the paws preventing me from doing a proper job, not trying to bite. My only solution is to take the dog to professionals - vet or a dog grooming place. It doesn't cost much and saves you trouble.
2006-11-30 07:55:12 · answer #4 · answered by silver_moon_73 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Be sure that you are using a good clipper.
The main problem with the Nail clipping, is that the dogs don't like to be touch on the paws, you can make you dog comfortable touching her paws daily, in the same time use a sweet voice "good Girl", that gonna make less stressful the clipping.
Have a pet Day
2006-11-30 07:18:06 · answer #5 · answered by Just Vivi Mobile Grooming 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. Never trim to close.
2. Try doing it again using treats. If she lets you trim one nail give her a treat for each time she lets you near her nails.
3. Try using one of those big black files for humans nails. File them instead of clipping. This option may be best because she probably has gotten use to seeing your nail clipper!
I have a pug who hates it too and a mastiff who will lets you clip her nails for a treat. My pug seems to be scared of the sound the toe nail clipper makes so I file his nails as he bites the file and tries to get away but... at least he can't get hurt.
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2006-11-30 08:05:14 · answer #6 · answered by Gift-Shop-Dogs.Com 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes - take her to Petsmart or a similar pet store that offers grooming and they can use a rotary grinder to file her nails down. My dog prefers this over the clippers.
2006-11-30 07:11:12 · answer #7 · answered by shanequinox 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not a lot you can do besides muzzle her and give her the natural relaxation supplements you can buy at petsmart/petco . And make sure you have some quik-stop ( kwik-stop) on hand in the event she jerks and you cut to far down! also run her on concrete as much as you can!
2006-11-30 07:11:09 · answer #8 · answered by timberriot 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you walk her on lots of concrete daily, you will not need to trim them. IF your clipper is hurting the dog, it is NOT a good clipper, it may be dull and crushing her nails...dogs usually know what hurts and what doesn't.
2006-11-30 07:12:20 · answer #9 · answered by Curious 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it costs about 9 bucks at the vet to cut the dogs nails, they will put a muzzle on it and hold it down to cut them, that way the dog wont be upset with you
2006-11-30 07:14:18 · answer #10 · answered by kat_luvr2003 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋